Toronto Zoo

Your Toronto Zoo is proud to announce it has received accreditation from the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) as part of the Annual AZA Annual Conference that took place this week in Columbus, Ohio. AZA accreditation is regarded as the “gold standard” of zoological accreditation. “We are part of an incredibly challenging profession, and this team’s dedication to delivering on the highest standards to ensure animal wellbeing while providing our guests with an amazing educational and inspirational visit is just outstanding,” said Dolf DeJong (he/him) Toronto Zoo CEO. “I am so grateful to our dedicated staff and volunteers for their commitment to serving the needs of the animals in our care and our guests, and we will continue to uphold the highest standards of animal care and wellbeing that the AZA has established. We believe strongly that all those who care for exotic and endangered species must meet these high standards and we will continue to advocate for improving the wellbeing of animals in human care,” he added. As one of Canada’s largest zoos, your Toronto Zoo is proud to meet the highest standards of wildlife care excellence, welfare standards and supporting critical conservation programs that support our mission connecting people, animals and conservation science to fight extinction. The Toronto Zoo was one of 22 zoos and aquariums to receive their accreditation this week. For full details on this announcement from AZA click here: https://bit.ly/3r7awMH What is the AZA Accreditation? Accreditation by the AZA demonstrates that an organization has met rigorous standards required to support excellence in wildlife care. https://bit.ly/3rcAA8Y Why is Accreditation important? In the wildlife care profession, it is critical that organizations with the responsibility of caring for and protecting our wildlife are held to highest standards. The standards are continuously improving and evolving to meet the needs of animals in our care. To achieve and maintain accreditation, organizations must make continuous updates to processes, facilities and training that will meet these high standards. Enforcing such demanding requirements allows the internal and external stakeholders of an animal care facility to know immediately if they can trust an organization that they will be visiting or supporting is delivering highest level of care, education and conservation, all critical elements to ensuring animals both in our care and in their natural spaces will continue to thrive. Learn more at https://bit.ly/3PEscIH.

We are thrilled to introduce the Toronto Zoo Experience App, designed to make your visits even more memorable and convenient! This innovative app helps you navigate through the Zoo with ease, ensuring you never miss a moment of the adventure. The app is now available for download on both iOS and Android devices. Thank you for being a valued member of the Toronto Zoo. We can't wait for you to experience the Zoo in a whole new way with our new app. 📱Plan Your Visit Ahead of Time: Customize your itinerary and ensure you make the most out of your Zoo experience. 📱Find Your Favourite Animals: Quickly locate where your favourite animals are, so you can plan your visit around seeing them. 📱Discover Restaurants and Attractions: Explore dining options and attractions to enhance your day at the Zoo. 📱Stay Updated on Special Events: Get notifications and details about special events happening during your visit. 📱Locate the Closest Washrooms: The interactive map guides you to the nearest washrooms for added convenience. Learn more and download at www.torontozoo.com/app.

Congratulations to Dolf DeJong who joins Destination Toronto's Board of Directors for 2024-2025. We look forward to him sharing in Destination Toronto’s mandate - reflecting the breadth and diversity of Toronto’s people, places and culture to inspire residents and visitors to meet, visit and explore the City of Toronto.

Great news! Your #ZooHorticulture team here within the @thetorontozoo is participating in the 30th Edition of Communities in Bloom, in the Special Attractions Evaluated category. Over the last number of days, we were honoured to welcome two judges from @cibcef who spent time understanding how profoundly rich and beautiful our Zoo is - from plants in the #TZGreenhouse and garden beds to team members in other areas who are Guardians and change makers for our environment in great ways. The Special Attractions category, with or without an evaluation, is for living history museums, public gardens and parks, and other local attractions like your Toronto Zoo. It was created to provide an opportunity to exchange information between organizations, to learn from each other’s respective experience and most importantly, to promote tourism at natural and historical attractions across Canada! The National and International results will be announced in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island Canada from October 17th to 20th 2024, during the National Symposium on Parks & Grounds and the National & International Awards. #CommunitiesInBloom is a Canadian non-profit volunteer and partnership-driven organization that uses a multi-tiered competitive evaluation process to foster community strength, involvement, and continuous improvement. This is accomplished by nurturing environmental sustainability, enhancements of green spaces, and heritage conservation in cultural and natural environments encompassing municipal, residential, commercial, and institutional spaces. The collective efforts of every team here at your Zoo continues to go a long way to ensuring we live in a world where wildlife and wild spaces thrive - that way we are contributing towards providing our guests with real and meaningful ways to mitigate climate change. Keep your fingers crossed as we continue through this year’s nomination process. #CiB2024 #CiB30 #PlantsLoveYou

The Indo-Malaya boardwalk is officially open 🦧 This beautiful 350-metre path connects the Indo-Malayan Pavilion and the Africa Savanna, offering a stunning tree-canopied walk through the Rouge National Urban Park. It's the perfect opportunity to immerse yourself in the beauty of native plant species right here at your Zoo. You may notice some ongoing construction around the boardwalk as we are currently building new habitats for our Sumatran tigers. In the meantime, you can visit them in the Eurasia Wilds. We appreciate your patience and support during the construction process. Thanks to you, we can undertake incredible projects that enhance our infrastructure and improve accessibility for all members and guests. We were fortunate to receive a grant from Infrastructure Canada’s “Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program – Community Culture & Recreation Stream,” with contributions from both the federal and provincial governments. We can't wait for you to check it out on your next visit!

Your Toronto Zoo is proud to be participating in the 30th Edition of Communities in Bloom - having been nominated in the Special Attractions Evaluated category this year. Your Zoo and its vast horticulture efforts will be rated from 1 to 5 Blooms, by judges who will visit the Zoo on July 16. Attractions will aim to obtain Bronze, Silver or Gold levels in their 5-Bloom rating. Both National and International results will be announced in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island from October 17-20, 2024 during the National Symposium on Parks & Grounds and the National & International Awards. Communities in Bloom is a Canadian non-profit volunteer and partnership-driven organization that uses a multi-tiered competitive evaluation process to foster community strength, involvement, and continuous improvement. This is accomplished by nurturing environmental sustainability, enhancements of green spaces, and heritage conservation in cultural and natural environments encompassing municipal, residential, commercial, and institutional spaces. Learn more about Communities in Bloom ⬇️ https://lnkd.in/eFRVyTyS

U of T Scarborough is partnering with the Toronto Zoo on a new teaching and research facility at the zoo's entrance. The Conservation Centre will offer students and faculty with more opportunities for hands-on learning and research. https://bit.ly/3xB3anI #UTSC #UofT

It's #PlasticFreeJuly! ♻️ We’re excited to share the Plastics Pathway, an initiative of Pollution Probe, your Toronto Zoo and GREENMANTRA Technologies, has reached another important milestone with the paving of a section of the Tundra Trek path using asphalt containing materials produced from recycled plastic. The 470 m2 of newly paved pathway showcases an innovative circular solution for plastic, incorporating the equivalent of 100,000 plastic bags worth of post-consumer recycled plastic material. Mixing the asphalt with GreenMantra’s innovative, specialty polymer contributes to a reduction in the amount of plastic waste that ends up in landfill, while increasing the durability of the pavement and extending its life. Learn more by watching how this pathway, located in your Toronto Zoo's Tundra Trek region, came to be ⬇️

Receiving training alongside a global team of respected wildlife health professionals and institutes is critical to your Toronto Zoo's work of connecting people, animals and conservation science to fight extinction. Members of our Zoo's Wildlife Health team had the opportunity to be in India earlier this year to learn alongside their international colleagues. Learn more about the Interventions in Wild Animal Health Field Course and how you can apply to be part of next year's cohort ⬇️

Today your Toronto Zoo proudly hosted an event to officially launch a major construction project as well as kicking-off 50 days of celebrations leading up to the Zoo’s 50th anniversary on August 15th. Your Toronto Zoo’s science journey over the past 50 years focused on our strengths in animal health sciences fostered through original research on site and higher education programs with our academic and government agency partners across Canada including our valued partnership with the University of Toronto Scarborough. As we celebrate our 50th anniversary this year, it is the perfect opportunity to honour the past 50 years of conservation science as well as an opportunity to look ahead and invest in a better future for wildlife and our community. Since it opened in 1974, close to 60 million guests have visited our beloved Toronto Zoo! Incredibly, millions more from around the world have digitally engaged with the Zoo, making it one of the most popular zoo social media platforms. Featuring an engaging river otter habitat, the Toronto Zoo Community Conservation Centre (TZC3) aims to bring a new, exciting educational arrival experience to Zoo guests and will also be a space accessible to the local community, where people can gather and connect with nature and each other. As the new home to the Zoo’s endangered turtle conservation breeding centre, TZC3 represents an exciting next phase for conservation science at your Toronto Zoo. This space will be a prominent and visually stunning statement of your Zoo’s commitment to the community, with multiple labs and classrooms used by students from U of T Scarborough as well as Toronto Zoo camps, Zoo School and education programs. “The Toronto Zoo Community Conservation Centre is an incredible addition for our organization, building on our existing Wildlife Health Centre and reproductive science research with meaningful Canadian species conservation efforts and student/community engagement facilities” says Dolf DeJong, CEO, Toronto Zoo. “This centre also supports our commitment to “two eyed” seeing, bridging conventional conservation science efforts with traditional knowledge.” Your Toronto Zoo is proud to be the first Zoo in Canada to establish such a collaboration wherein a leading university has a physical campus located onsite. TZC3 would not be possible without the collaboration from the University of Toronto Scarborough and our shared commitment to inspire, teach and train the next generation of conservationists and scientists. This project would also not be possible without your Toronto Zoo's dedicated fundraising partner the Toronto Zoo Wildlife Conservancy. The Wildlife Conservancy is committed to supporting TZC3 and other projects outlined in your Zoo's Master Plan by raising $70 million from individuals, corporations, foundations, and others. For more information, visit https://lnkd.in/gNQcDKc9. Read more: https://lnkd.in/gtrGQSxF